Friday, July 11, 2014

Bakken Brine... No Problem?

Officials: No evidence brine in bay after ND spill.

Interestingly enough the story fails to point out that this is another byproduct of the Bakken crude fracking industry. (JLW)

Published: Friday, July 11, 2014 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 11, 2014 at 2:39 a.m.

MANDAREE, N.D. (AP) — The snaking, nearly 2-mile trail of
saltwater that an underground pipeline spewed in the rugged hills of
western North Dakota's badlands left a 200-yard-long stretch of dead
vegetation, a company official said, though she added there is no
evidence yet that the spill has contaminated a nearby bay.

On
Friday, officials were expected to continue investigating the extent of
the damage and cause of the pipeline leak that spilled nearly 1 million
gallons of saltwater, an unwanted byproduct of oil and gas production.
Also called brine, saltwater is considered an environmental hazard by
the state.
The path the saltwater took into a ravine left a patch
of dead vegetation as wide as 100 feet in some points, said Miranda
Jones, vice president of environmental safety and regulatory at
Houston-based Crestwood Midstream Partners LP. The pipeline belonged to
Crestwood subsidiary Arrow Pipeline LLC.

That ravine flows into
Bear Den Bay, a tributary of Lake Sakakawea. Sakakawea, one of the
nation's largest man-made lakes, is a drinking water source for the Fort
Berthold Indian reservation.
On a boat trip to the bay Thursday,
The Associated Press saw no visible signs of contamination. Waterfowl
were present in the area — some sitting close to the bright yellow booms
placed at the point where the ravine meets the bay. Booms had also been
placed around a nearby water-intake system used by the reservation.

The
company believes the spill began over the Fourth of July weekend. In
the first public statement in the two days since the spill was detected,
the Environmental Protection Agency said it had no confirmed reports
that the saltwater had reached Bear Den Bay. The agency said most of the
spill was pooled on the ground, soaked into the soil or held behind
beaver dams.
Jones also said Thursday that there is no evidence the bay had been contaminated.

On
Wednesday, Jones spoke to The Associated Press with Three Affiliated
Tribes chairman Tex Hall, who said then that the spill had leaked into
the bay. On Thursday, Jones said the chairman was referring to the
ravine.
The area where the spill occurred is in a patch of North
Dakota's badlands — a dramatic, remote and rugged landscape
characterized by steep-sided hills dropping into ravines.

Claryca
Mandan, natural resources administrator for the Mandan, Hidatsa and
Arikara tribes' natural resources department, said the area is "one of
the worst places it could have happened" as the geography complicates
cleanup and remediation efforts.

Cleanup crews were carrying equipment into the bottom of the ravine by hand Thursday.
On top of the bluff where the spill occurred, workers could be observed shoveling contaminated earth and taking soil samples.
At the bottom of the ravine, Jones said, crews were removing contaminated water and using pipes to pump in fresh water.

The EPA said it was assessing the site to ensure none of the brine had affected Lake Sakakawea. Crestwood
agreed to take the AP and a local television station to view part of
the affected area on Thursday, but with limitations on where and when
photographs could be taken.

Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation plays a key role in the state's oil
production, the second-highest in the nation. The reservation currently
represents more than 300,000 of North Dakota's 1 million barrels of oil
produced daily, according to the state's Department of Mineral
Resources.
___
MacPherson reported from Bismarck, N.D.
___
Contact Josh Wood at https://twitter.com/JWoodAP